2 February 2019 12:00 am
WASHINGTON REUTERS, Jan 31 2019 - The U.S. special envoy for North Korea laid out an extensive list of demands for North Korean denuclearization on Thursday that is likely to anger Pyongyang, even as President Donald Trump said the date and place for a second summit was set and hailed “tremendous progress” in his dealings with the country.
In a speech at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, envoy Stephen Biegun said North Korea would need to declare all its nuclear and missile programmes and warned that Washington had “contingencies” if the diplomatic process failed.
Biegun, in his most detailed public remarks on his approach to North Korea after five months in his role, said Washington would have to have expert access and monitoring mechanisms of nuclear and missile sites and “ultimately ensure removal or destruction of stockpiles of fissile material, weapons, missiles, launchers and other weapons of mass destruction.”